Leader of the Hindutva organization Hindu Swabhiman, President of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Parishad and chief priest of the Devi Mandir at Dasna in Uttar Pradesh, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati’s name has emerged in connection with the communal violence in western Uttar Pradesh and areas adjoining Delhi, reported The Quint.
In the past month, he has been making several blasphemous statements through his official YouTube channel ‘Narsingh Vani’ and has also been propagating the end of Islam in interviews. Calling Muslims ‘jihadis’ he has said that Hindus need to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ saying that Muslims were perpetrating ‘love jihad’ and killing Hindus at will.
In another video, he very blatantly states that it is only when Islam ends that humanity can be saved. On February 22, roaring into the mic, he addressed the public saying that Muslims have taken it upon themselves to bring the city to its feet.
In a video posted on February 10, 2020, he said, that Shaheen Bagh, where the famous women-led protests against the CAA-NPR-NRC, is calling for the genocide of Hindus. And, on February 11, he made a statement stating that all Hindus should stand with ‘warrior’ Kapil Gujjar, a young man who had the courage to fight against Shaheen Bagh. Gujjar had opened fire near the area where the Shaheen Bagh protestors were staging their sit-n. Nobody was injured in the attack.
He also praised BJP’s Kapil Mishra in a video on February 25 where he supported Mishra’s speech and actions that purportedly led to the Delhi riots. Calling the newest BJP entrant Gautam Gambhir a eunuch, he asked all the Hindus to support Kapil Mishra who would continue to fight for Hindutva and a Hindu Rashtra.
He has also repeatedly called on Hindus to pick up arms and fight for the cause of Hindutva saying that it is not a sin, but a virtue to pick up arms to protect one’s religion.
Who is Narsinghanand Yati?
In an interview to The Quint in 2015, Narsinghanand has claimed to be an engineer with an M-Tech degree who hails from Ghaziabad. He has also said that he has worked with organizations associated with the Sangh Parivar and calls Baikunth Lal Sharma and BP Singhal his mentors. According to him, his degree is what made him understand the power of technology to reach the youth and spread his message.
In a report by The Print, Narsinghanand is said to be someone who has completed his Master’s from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Machine Building and has “headed marketing teams as an engineer” at companies in Russia and London. On why he returned to India, he says, “I felt that I was born to do something big, so I thought I should return and try my hand at politics.”
However, he told The Print that he didn’t always hate Muslims. Apparently, a girl from a Ghaziabad college allegedly approached him and complained about harassment by a group of Muslim men he hung out with. According to him, she alleged that one of her friends (a Muslim woman) asked her to befriend a Muslim man. When she agreed and started meeting the man, her friend allegedly clicked objectionable photographs of the two and circulated them in college. The photographs, she is said to have alleged, were used to blackmail her into granting sexual favours to “professors, ministers and other Muslim men”.
“She told me that those were the same Muslim men I roamed around with. I was shaken,” he said. “She told me that I was responsible for her misery. It shook me from within,” he added. “That day I thought, what if these Muslims do the same to my daughter… That is when I began this fight for Islam-mukt (Islam-free) Bharat,” he said.
Most of Narsinghanand’s ideology is based on the premise that Hindus are under an existential threat from Islam and Muslims. Throughout all of his addresses to the public, he only propagates one thing – asking Hindus to procreate in large numbers to survive and outdo the Muslim population.
Unfortunately, his organization, Hindu Swabhiman, is an affiliate of Dharam Sena which gives arms training to Hindu children and youth. His right hand man, Parminder Arya, a former army man runs the training programme where children as young as nine are given arms training and lessons which teach them that they need to pick up swords and guns to “fight Muslims who are exploiting Hindu women”.
Chetna Sharma alias Yati Maa Chetnanand is also teaching the children the concept of ‘love jihad’. In a documentary, she is seen telling girls and boys that the Muslims are using ‘love jihad’ as a ploy to trap Hindu women and increase the community’s strength by giving birth to multiple children.
Another one of Narsinghanand’s followers is Pinky Chaudhari. Such is the bond that Narsinghanand shares with Chaudhari that he even became ready to convert to Islam after the police arrested Chaudhari after he confessed to being a part of the attack on the JNU students earlier this year!
His relationship with the BJP
Narsinghanand has been an open supporter of Kapil Mishra, Amit Shah and most of all Yogi Adityanath whom he calls ‘karmyodha’.
However, in his videos, he has often shown disillusionment against the party for being openly supporting the Hindutva mission. He seems to not have a soft spot for PM Modi too. However, he is seen to be closer to ministers like Giriraj Singh who have attended events by Narsinghanand’s organization.
On February 16, Chetnanand had organized a ‘Dharam Samvad’ in Meerut where Giriraj Singh was present and spoke about the “battle to resist Ghazwa-e-Hind.” Singh too spoke of Narsinghanand’s ideologies. Then, he had said, “In several villages and places in India, our (Hindus) population is 99 percent. But whenever this is reduced, they (minorities) get emboldened.” He also gave a slogan, “Bharatvanshi, tera mera rishta kya? Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram,” and said, “My hands are tied because I hold constitutional office. But I urge Hindu religious leaders to take the lead and mobilise people.”
According to a report by Live Hindustan, Narsinghanand has several cases registered against him ranging from obstructing judicial proceedings to inciting suicide.
In 2005, a case registered at Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar police station, involving his protest against the construction of a Haj House led to uproar and provoking communalism thus disrupting judicial proceedings.
In 2010, at the Mansauri police station in Ghaziabad, a case was registered accusing him of inciting people to kill themselves after a man called Sonu Rana consumed a poisonous substance at his instigation.
In 2014, he was charged in a case of attempt to murder, dacoity and creating disturbance at Niwari in Ghaziabad.
Narsinghanand doesn’t believe in a secular India. Will his hate mongering win over the brainwashed, vulnerable public, or will the authorities, including online social media platforms and the country’s courts, take down his content and bring him to justice?
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